Council Clock Up

The owner of one of Beverley’s most recognisable listed buildings was surprised this week when he received a letter from East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Planning department.

The letter was from the Area’s Conservation Officer Mr Malte Clockner. It stated that following recently carried out works to the exterior of the building on North Bar Without, several complaints had been received from the town residents.

The complaints concerned the siting of a clock on the tower to the front elevation of the building and the relocation of a carving of the devil on the opposite side of the tower to the clock.

David Bignall, the owner of the building, explained the situation to Paul Smith of HU17:

“Towards the end of last year my wife and I decided that the front of the building was looking very tired and at the very least was in need of redecoration. We decided to take advantage of the unseasonably mild weather and start work right away. It was necessary to erect a scaffold to gain access to all areas of the facade, and once this was complete we could for the first time see just what was needed to be done.

“It was immediately obvious that more than just redecoration would be necessary. Many of the old timbers that form the structural front of the building were completely rotten as were the window frames. Also, much of the leaded glass within the frames was loose and would also need specialist repair and restoration. Fortunately, we operate a building and property development company and our joiner had worked on many of the county’s historic old buildings such as York Minster and Holy Trinity Church in Hull. I have also restored lots of old and listed buildings, and so although we knew there was a lot of work to do, with hard work and a fair bit of money we knew that we could bring the building back to life.

“The work itself took several months to carry out using traditional materials and work practices, and in January we were ready to remove the scaffold to reveal the newly restored facade. Before we did this however, we had discovered an old photograph of the building in a book about the history of Beverley showing that there had been a clock on the tower many years ago. We decided to reinstate a clock to match that in the photograph. We also decided that the wooden carving of the devil would be more accessible, as well as safer and easier to maintain, if it were to be moved slightly forward of its original position.

“With these last two jobs complete, we dismantled the scaffold to reveal the new facade. Since completion both my wife and myself have received many compliments and much praise for the standard of the work and for taking the job on – and for preserving for the future an iconic Beverley building. We are now int eh process of applying for retrospective planning permission for the alteration of a listed building to allow for the retention of the clock and carved wooden devil in their current positions.”

David said “I feel very sad and am a little annoyed that work that took place at considerable personal expense and in full public view over several months could not have been visited by the Conservation Officer during the course of the works. As often proves to be the case, the Council would seem to prefer to take enforcement action after works have been carried out rather than assisting and advising on them whilst underway.”

David added “I’ll let you know how we get on!”